The street fighting began in the early morning when thousands of people gathered outside the Parliament building to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, The Guardian reported. The demonstration was organized by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which accuses Somchai of close ties to Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup two years ago.

Some of the protesters began assembling Monday and waited through the night, The Washington Post reported.

Somchai had to crawl under a fence to escape the building and was then removed from the area by helicopter, The Guardian said.

Violence spread from the Parliament building to police headquarters, where cars were overturned.

Somchai had been trying to negotiate a political settlement after violent demonstrations two months ago.